I thought this could be of some interest for some museum people.

ElipseAR is a set of tools for Augmented Reality and Computer Vision development. Thanks to that toolkit features like image matching and tracking, 3D animation rendering, geolocation using the camera view, face recognition, … will be easy to integrate on your AR project. All those tools are free for commercial use.

Visit the site HERE.

Our lovely friend Helen Papagiannis did it again: what a nice new AR app! On her blog Helen writes: “I’d like to present the first AR Pop-up Book for mobile devices using image recognition (a.k.a. regular images to trigger augmented content, as opposed to the black and white square glyphs that are common in AR). Integrating image recognition in the design, the book can hence be enjoyed alone as a regular pop-up book, or supplemented with augmented digital content when viewed through a mobile device equipped with a camera, such as an iPad 2 or iPhone 4.

Playful rhyming text takes you through the storybook where various ‘creepy crawlies’ (spider, ant, and butterfly) are awaiting to be discovered, appearing virtually as 3D models you can interact with. A tarantula attacks when you touch it, an ant hyperlinks to educational content with images and diagrams, and a butterfly appears flapping its wings atop a flower in a meadow.”

Helen Papagiannis is a designer, PhD researcher and artist specializing in Augmented Reality (AR). She is available for commercial work, commissions, consulting and speaking engagements. Helen has been working with AR since 2005 designing and building prototypes to explore the creative possibilities and theoretical implications for this exciting new medium. This blog documents a small sample of her work. Contact Helen to inquire about further work and collaborations.

What happens when technology breaks or behaves in unexpected ways? Why is this important to embrace? Papagiannis will speak to her PhD research in interactive art installations in Mixed Reality and Augmented Reality.

Helen Papagiannis is an artist, designer, and researcher specializing in Augmented Reality (AR). Hailed as being among the top 10 forces currently shaping the AR industry (Leading AR News Blog, Games Alfresco), Papagiannis has been working with AR since 2005 exploring the creative possibilities and theoretical implications for this exciting emerging technology. Recently, Papagiannis’ interactive artworks were featured in an exhibition at the Ontario Science Centre. She is presently completing her Ph.D. in Communication and Culture at York and is a Senior Research Associate at the Augmented Reality Lab (Department of Film, Faculty of Fine Arts). Prior to her graduate studies, Helen was a member of the internationally renowned Bruce Mau Design studio, where she was project lead on Massive Change: The Future of Global Design.

Visit Helens’ Blog here.

Augmented Reality of the Augsburg Display Cabinet

The Getty Museum’s 17th-century display cabinet from Augsburg, Germany, is a type of furniture often called a “cabinet of curiosities” because of its compartments designed to contain collectible objects.

Imagine holding the large tabletop cabinet in your hands. You can get a sense of the furniture’s multifaceted structure by using augmented reality technology to virtually spin, tilt, and open it.

Get Started here

The Civil War Augmented Reality Project was conceived by several public educators with technology experience and a desire to offer more interactivity to students and the general public visiting historic sites. The objective of the project is to develop and implement augmented reality services related to the American Civil War in Pennsylvania, and to modify soon to be released tablet personal computers to allow the general public a chance to experience the applications.

The project’s inception is planned to give ample development time in the run up to the Sesquicentennial of the Civil War, beginning in 2011. It is hoped that early support could generate interest in Maryland and Virginia.We also propose to construct stationary devices patterned after the “pay binoculars” often found at scenic overlooks. These devices will offer a virtual geographic view from a few hundred yards above the user.

via The Civil War Augmented Reality Project.

Read also: Teachers hope augmented reality can change battlefield learning

Source: GIZMODO

Augmented reality might be the future, but my favorite application of it yet transports you far into past. StreetMuseum—an iPhone app from the Museum of London—overlays four hundred years of historic images on today’s city streets.

StreetMuseum makes creative use of Google Maps and geo-tagging to show users how London used to look. You can use it to check out pictures and info about nearby historic locations, which is has more of a straightforward walking tour feel. But the fun starts when you’re actually standing in front of a location in the database. That’s when the AR “3D view” kicks in, with views that may look something like this:

Even better: it’s free. Well played, Museum of London. Now let’s get a Manhattan version so I can reenact Gangs of New York on my way to work. [Museum of London via LikeCool]

A wave of apps for iPhones and Androids has sparked the public interest in augment reality. It won’t be long before superimposing images and content onto the real world through the camera view of your smartphone will change the way you look at things.

In order for AR to be really useful, researchers must chisel away at the technical problems facing it on both the software and the hardware fronts. As companies and their customers begin recognizing the concept’s inherent value, they will adopt rudimentary AR techniques, paving the way for more sophisticated solutions as they emerge over the next few years. It will be an exciting spectacle.

Read more: Augmented reality: nearly but not quite.

junaio allows you to create, explore and share information in a completely new way using augmented reality. By combining innovative online and mobile technologies you will be able to place 3D objects into the real world and share this with friends through social networks. You will be able to see any kind of location-based content through the display of your mobile phone. junaio is bringing the Internet to the real world around you.

Source: ARvertising

Can’t stop hearing about it in the news, but wondering what makes “augmented reality” AR – the concept of overlaying computerized information, digital pop-up windows and/or virtual reality VR displays over real-world scenes and imagery – so exciting? Read more: AR How It Impacts Our Lives.

Het Nederlands Architectuurinstituut (NAi) gaat in samenwerking met Layar en IN10 een Augmented Reality (AR) applicatie voor mobiele telefoons ontwikkelen.

Doel van de applicatie is dat bezoekers hun mobiel op een gebouw kunnen richten, waarna ze allerlei informatie te zien krijgen, waaronder 3D modellen en maquettes. Niet alleen informatie over bestaande architectuur zal zo zichtbaar worden, maar ook beelden van vroeger of informatie over toekomstige plannen. Daarnaast komen er architectonische routes beschikbaar en kan je als gebruiker ook zelf aanvullende informatie achterlaten.

Met de ontwikkeling van deze applicatie zal het NAi een volgende stap in de toekomst van musea zetten. Een toekomst waarin musea niet meer gebonden zijn aan hun fysieke ruimte. Zelfs een eigen gebouw is niet meer per se nodig.

Eind december gaat de applicatie live. Plan is dat deze gedurende vijf jaar zal uitgroeien tot een complete architectuurgids van Nederland.

Bron: Erfgoed 2.0

Augmented Reality has a big variaty of application possibilities inside museums. A completely new guidance concept, with which the visitor of the museum become virtual additional information on top of the exhibit. On the other hand historical exhibition rooms can be brought back to life with aid of the AR-technology. Source/Bron: Augmented Reality Museum Experience | ARvertising news.

Registration of the amazing keynote by sf author and design critic Bruce Sterling, “At the Dawn of the Augmented Reality Industry”. He talks about its history, the cool side, the dark side and gives the industry some pointers to be successful. Read more: Video: Bruce Sterling’s Keynote – At the Dawn of the Augmented Reality Industry on Vimeo. and layar.com

There are a lot of Augmented Reality campaigns in the market at moment, but the video above is refreshing, it shows a little insight into the making of the MINI Augmented Reality campaign. The campaign was pretty standard in comparison to others I’ve posted like the Eminem Augmented Reality but the video shows some behind the scenes action that’s pretty cool. Enjoy!

via MINI Augmented Reality: The Making Of | Digital Buzz Blog.